Filter for smoking devices



United States Patent 3,513,859 FILTER FOR SMOKING DEVICES Margaret F. Carty, Plainfield, Vt., assignors to The H 0 Filter Corporation, New York, N .Y. Filed Nov. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 680,837 Int. Cl. A24d 1/04; A24f 25/00, 7/04 US. Cl. 131-267 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an improvement in water filters for smoking devices such as cigarettes, cigars and pipes. It has for its purpose the provision of a filter moistened with water which, when smoke of burning tobacco is drawn therethrough, causes the products of such combustion to be trapped and retained in the moisturebearing pores of the filter.

This invention constitutes an improvement over my copending applications, Ser. No. 418,413, filed Dec. 15, 1964, now US. Pat. No. 3,366,121 and Ser. No. 662,920 filed Aug. 24, 1967, and is designed for rapid, low-cost production to meet the needs of the tobacco industry.

It is an undisputed fact that water provides the most effective cooling and cleansing agent for the removal of harmful substances produced by the combustion of tobacco, and this knowledge has served as the impetus for devising a filter in which water is released into, and retained in, an open-pore sponge type filter material, moistening the entire structure of such filtering material and causing the smoke which is drawn therethrough to be cleansed and cooled.

The present invention is suitable for high-speed, lowcost, automatic manufacture, making it economically attractive to manufacturers of cigarettes and cigars, and makers of filter devices for pipes.

With the above and other objects in view, this invention consists of the novel features, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the device;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section on line 44 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of the invention after compression thereof.

The structure of this filter device may be more easily understood by reference to drawings, in which FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 are shown having two tubular elements or interlocking cartridges 1 and 2, which are made of an imprevious material such as polyester, of such dimensions as to provide a close fit thereof when pressure is applied to the end of cartridge 1 to force it into closer engagement with carriage 2. Referring particularly to FIG. 4,

- at the closed end 3 of cartridge 2 there are perforations 4 to permit passage of smoke from burning tobacco there- 3,513,859 Patented May 26, 1970 through, into chamber 5; and shoulders 6, 6, as shown in the drawings, may be either spaced apart projections or an annular ring upon the inner wall of the said cartridge, to retain filter body 7 in its position within said cartridge.

A rupturable container or capsule 8, partially filled with water, is disposed in chamber 9.

Upon the outer wall of said cartridge 2 a series of spaced apart projections or an annular ring, as shown at 10, 10 serves as a stop to control the extent to which cartridge 1 may be telescoped over cartridge 2.

Continuing with the structure as shown in FIG. 4, cartridge 1 likewise has a filter body 11 disposed in the chamber 12 formed when the leading end of said cartridge 1 is fitted over cartridge 2, said filter body having rupturing means 13 integrally attached to the closed end 14 of said cartridge 1 and extending longitudinally through said filter body 11; and perforations 15 in said closed end 14 to permit the passage of smoke drawn through the moisture-bearing filter bodies 7 and 11, into chamber 16. Above said last-mentioned chamber a series of spaced apart projections or an annular ring, shown at 17, 17, serves as a base for a dry filter element 18, said latter element being formed of fibres such as cellulose, paper, or like materials, crimped and disposed in longi tudinal order by folding, rolling, or similar means, to provide facile passage and partial drying of the smoke which has been previously moistened and cleansed by its passage through said moisture-bearing filter bodies 7 and 11. The recess 19 at the mouth tip of the device prevents the smokers tongue from coming into direct contact with said dry filter element.

In FIG. 5 the same features are shown, with the means 13 having penetrated the wall of container 8, and having thereby released the water content of said container into the filter bodies 7 and 11. While the filter bodies, compressed by the telescoping action of the interlocking cartridges, will have expanded upon collapse of the container 8 there remains a space 9 formerly occupied by the said container wherein the smoke circulates before being drawn into and through the second of said filter bodies, numbered 11. The water held by capillary attraction upon the walls of this chamber serves further to cleanse and cool the smoke.

Said filter bodies, briefly compressed upon the forcing of cartridge 1 into maximum telescoped relationship over cartridge 2, instantly expand when the water from container 8 is released into their adjacent portions, and the water continues to permeate said filter bodies until each of them has a substantially uniform moisture content throughout. At the same time, by capillary attraction, some part of the water thus released from the capsule is retained upon the walls of chamber 9, thus providing an additional cleansing of the smoke from the burning tobacco as the same is drawn through the device.

The advantage of the present structure lies in the control that may be exercised over the absorptive capacity of the filtering bodies, both by the selection of a suitable type of open-pore cellular structure and by the substantially consistent dimensions of the said bodies. Thus a uniform moistening of the smoke is achieved, with like uniformity of the cleansing and cooling action of the filter device.

Said device may be made in sizes suitable for integral attachment to the ends of cigarette bodies, or upon cigars as an integral part thereof; or it may be made in a size or sizes suited for insertion in holders for cigars or cigarettes, or into the stem of a pipe. In each case, prior to lighting the smoking device, pressure is exerted upon the end thereof which constitutes the mouth tip of the cigar or cagarette, or the end, in a cigar or cigarette holder or a pipe stem, which will be nearest the mouth of the smoker. By this pressure the rupturing means penetrates the wall of the capsule and releases its water content, thus bringing into operation the cleansing action of the filter bodies thus moistened and moisture-bearing throughout their structure.

It is obvious that changes may be made in the form and construction shown and described herein, within the spirit of the invention, and I do not, therefore, wish to confine myself to the exact disclosure set forth herein.

What I claim as my invention and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A filter for smoking devices such as cigarettes, cigars and pipes, comprising interlocking cartridges having the proximate ends of said cartridges slidably disposed, the one within the other, and Within at least one of said cartridges, compressed, absorbent, water-expansible material and adjacent to said material, at least one rupturable hollow body having a water content therein, said other cartridge including filter material, and said rupturable hollow body being positioned between said absorbent and filter materials; and integrally formed with at least one of said cartridges, means for rupturing said hollow body upon the interaction of said cartridges when telescopical- 1y compressed whereby, upon said compression and rupture of said hollow body, the hollow body collapses and the water content thereof is released into and absorbed by said compressed, absorbent, water-expansible material, and said absorbent material thereby expands to at least partially fill the space previously occupied by the hollow body prior to the puncture, emptying, and subsequent collapse thereof.

2. The invention of claim 1, having said rupturing means in the form of at least one pointed member so disposed within said cartridge as to puncture said hollow body when forced into penetrative contact therewith.

3. The invention of claim 1, wherein said cartridges maybe telescopically compressed for a predetermined distance upon the longitudinal axes thereof, further telescoping being prevented by projecting means upon the outer wall of the smaller of said cartridges.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,366,121 1/1968 Carty 131-10.1 3,428,049 2/1969 Leake et al. 13110.1 2,755,206 7/1956 Statia 13110.1 3,250,280 5/1966 Hu 13110.1 X 3,334,636 8/1967 Zuber 13110.1 3,339,557 9/1967 Karalus 13110.1 X

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner J. H. CZERWONKY, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 13l10.l, 10.7,173 

